Thursday, September 16, 2010

Dark Elves in 8th Pt. 3

Welcome back. I have roughly finished the list I will be taking to 'Ard Boyz Semifinals if I end up going. I also bought a digital camera last night (remember I have more money than sense) so I did a test picture of my Dreadlord. While it proves I suck at painting, it was one of the most fun miniatures to paint I can remember. The sculpt is excellent, except for the somewhat fruity baby dragon sitting in his shoulder.

Please don't tell me all the things I messed up on and how bad I am at painting: I already know.

So onto the list. I hope to have a battle report from a playtesting game this weekend posted with pictures.

[The Dreadlord is now a few points cheaper, but doesn't lose much. The armor save is only 2+ vs shooting and 3+ in close combat rather than 1+ always, but he has 4+ regeneration and 2+ ward vs. flaming attacks so he is no pushover.]

[I decided that the Lore of Death is the strongest all around Lore besides Life, which I don't have access to. Death gives you the ability to throw 7 or 8 dice at a Purple Sun to kill hordes, and also the ability to snipe characters, and lastly some fairly useful debuffs. Basically it gives me play vs Hordes, characters and MSU elites. I wanted to get the Focus Familiar on the level 2, but it would mean losing the Seal, and I really enjoy having that extra dispell dice.]20x Repeater Crossbowmen 225

-Musician

-Shields

20x Repeater Crossbowmen 225

-Musician

-Shields

40x Warriors 320

-Champ

-Musician

-Standard

-Warbanner

-Shields

[I went from 3 units of 16 xbowmen to 2 units of 20. I was finding with the smaller units I was running out of real estate to deploy them with clear firing lanes. This should allow me to put a unit on each flank and kill any lightly armored scout units or fast cavalry. The warriors are the bunker that the Supreme Sorceress sits in and uses for Dagger dice. I added a champ in to eat challenges to keep the magic going as long as possible. I wanted the warbanner to ensure I win combats and hopefully grind them down. I tend to deploy them behind the Black Guard, so if my Warriors are in combat it usually means my Black Guard got smashed and it is probably over anyway.]

[3 full size units of killy Black Guard. Not much to explain about why they are so great. Boatload of S4 I6 armor piercing or flaming attacks with re-rolls to hit, stubbornand immune to psychology. They are a lot for most units to deal with.]

War Hydra 175

War Hydra 175

2x Reaper Bolt Throwers 200

Total: 2,999

[The rares stay unchanged. I really would like to try a few games with 3 Hydra or 5 Bolt Throwers to see if either angle makes the army click better. A lot of people are down on the Hydra in 8th because it's easier to kill, but I love how they take fire away from the Black Guard. Plus now I have 5 'must deal with' offensive threats on the table instead of 3. Bolt Throwers are great, but let's face it: they can be ignored. No matter what you think about Hydras, they cannot be ignored on the battlefield.]

Hopefully I'll have a batrep posted Sunday night or Monday morning. Until then, anyone see any glaring mistakes or things that could be better optimized?